


A Merry Little Christmas (and New Year’s Too)

by DaniShine178, fandomingchild



Series: K-Littles (REQUESTS ON HOLD) [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: ADHD Junhui | Jun, Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst and Fluff, Autistic & ADHD Joshua, Autistic Jihoon | Woozi, Blame M for most of it, Boys in Skirts, Caregiver Chan | Dino, Caregiver Jeonghan, Caregiver Jihoon | Woozi, Caregiver Seungkwan, Caregiver Vernon, Christmas fic, Crying, Diapers, Ever After High Dolls, Everyone Loves Joshua, Fairy Tales, Ficception, Flip Minghao | The8, Fluff, Little Joshua, Little Junhui | Jun, Little Mingyu, Little Seokmin | DK, Little Seungcheol | S.Coups, Little Soonyoung | Hoshi, Little Wonwoo, M continues to torture their characters don’t @ them, M/M, Many a fic in this fic, Monster High Dolls, Multi, New Year’s Eve fic, Non-Sexual Age Play, Plushies, Polyamory, So Many Fluffies!, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, birthday fic, neurodivergent characters, no beta we die like men!, or women and enbies in our case, pacifers, pull-ups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniShine178/pseuds/DaniShine178, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomingchild/pseuds/fandomingchild
Summary: The end of the year has rolled around, and with it, the holidays! The caregivers know it’s going to be tough with thirteen of them, but they’re determined to give their littles a good experience nonetheless. Tears can’t be completely avoided, which makes the caregivers all the more relentless in their efforts; this is going to be a fun family Christmas, so help them God!RATED FOR SWEARING AND CONTENT THAT MAY MAKE SOME UNCOMFORTABLE, PLEASE READ THE TAGS.THIS IS AN AGE REGRESSION STORY, NOT AGE PLAY. IT IS TAGGED AS SUCH SO THAT THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE CAN FIND IT.
Relationships: OT13, SEVENTEEN Ensemble/SEVENTEEN Ensemble
Series: K-Littles (REQUESTS ON HOLD) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801669
Comments: 13
Kudos: 42





	1. Merry Christmas!

**Author's Note:**

> Caregivers: Jeonghan (Daddy), Jihoon (Kitty), Seungkwan (Mama), Chan (Appa), Vernon (Dada)
> 
> Flips: Minghao (Baba, 1-2)
> 
> Littles: Seokmin (Infant), Mingyu (Infant), Wonwoo (2-3), Seungcheol (2-5), Junhui (3-4), Soonyoung (4-5), Joshua (5-6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With eight littles, Christmas is never a dull day. From the earliest hours of the day up to bedtime, the SVT household has an exciting Christmas!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: neither of us is Korean, so some inaccuracies in this chapter may be present. If so, please correct us so we can edit and show a more accurate and respectful presentation of Korean culture.
> 
> Dani - We’re back again! And with a Christmas fic! I’m so glad that M wanted to work on another fic together ^_^
> 
> M - another fic??? All we’re doing at this point is reinforcing Dani's statement that we should not meet up. The niche we write for would break.

Joshua let out a small grumble as he felt himself be shaken awake. He halfheartedly swiped at whoever was daring to wake him up, only to hear a small whine. “Shua, Mama says it’s not nice to hit!” Joshua peeked an eye open to see Soonyoung sitting on the edge of his bed, an ecstatic grin on his face.

“Why are you waking me up, Soonie?” Joshua grumbled. He gave Soonyoung a deep pout as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “I’m still sleepy.”

Somehow, Soonyoung’s smile grew. “It’s Chwistmas, Shua!” he said.

Joshua was definitely awake now. “Christmas!” he echoed, clumsily rolling out of bed. He grabbed Soonyoung’s shoulders with a serious expression. “Gotta wake up everybody, Soonie.”

“Minnie first!” Soonyoung said.

With an unholy amount of energy given the time of morning, the two littles rushed out of their room to the nursery where the babies slept. Joshua gently pushed the door open, and Soonyoung crept in while Joshua stood guard outside.

Glancing around at the three cribs, Soonyoung tip-toed over to Seokmin’s and pushed down the bars. (He had been in the room one too many times while the caregivers were waking up the other littles, and knew by now how to get the babies out without help.) Seokmin was curled up under his blanket, and clutching his stuffie, a chocolate lab named Loop. He slept peacefully, but not be for much longer.

“Minnie,” Soonyoung whispered urgently, reaching forward to poke the younger’s back. The little in question let out a small whine, but he remained fast asleep. Soonyoung poked him again and spoke louder this time. “Minnie, wake up! Chwistmas time!” 

Seokmin let out another whine, his fists tightening as he started to wake up. 

The impatient little huffed before beginning a barrage of pokes to wake the baby up. “Minnie, i’s Chwistmas time! Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

Soonyoung grinned as Seokmin finally opened his eyes and looked up at him, but the expression fell when Seokmin’s lip started wobbling. 

He blanched and wracked his brain for a way to recover, but Seokmin let out a cry sooner and louder than the other had anticipated, and he blanched.

Outside the door to the nursery, Joshua murmured, “Uh oh.” 

A few doors down, the door to the caregivers’ bedroom swung open, and a tired, grumpy Jihoon stepped into the hallway. Joshua froze up, throwing his hands over his eyes in a childish effort to not be seen by the caregiver.

“Shua, baby,” Jihoon asked, “why are you standing in front of the nursery?” He let out a loud yawn as he stretched his arms. “At 4 A.M. no less.”

Joshua slowly took his hands off his eyes, but his gaze quickly landed on the floor. “Uh…” He brought his hands together to fidget. “Christmas.”

Jihoon stiffened as Seokmin let out another cry, louder this time. “Wait out here while I calm Seokmin down.”

“No!” Joshua cried, whisper-shouting at the caregiver. Jihoon paused, looking up at the boy with a tired and unamused expression. The fidgeting returned to Joshua’s hands as he tried to think of a response. “Uh… Soonie’s in there, Kitty.”

Jihoon drew in a small breath before releasing it. “And why is Soonie in there, Shua?” When Joshua let out a small whine, visibly having trouble forming the words, the caregiver gently grabbed hold of his baby’s hands and started to rub his fingers over the top of his hands. “It’s okay, Shua. Kitty won’t be mad if you’re just honest.” The two cringed as Seokmin let out another loud sob.

“Soonie and Shua wanted to wake up Minnie cause it’s Christmas,” Joshua muttered.

“Okay, baby, let Hoonie get them both,” Jihoon stated. The little gave a small nod before moving away from the door. He sat down crisscrossed on the ground while Jihoon stepped into the nursery.

The caregiver was greeted by the sight of Seokmin sobbing his heart out in the crib and Soonyoung frantically trying to calm his baby brother down. “Soonie,” Jihoon called out, getting the older little’s attention.

Soonyoung snapped his head over in Jihoon’s direction, eyes wide. “‘M sowwy, Kitty! Soonie didn’ mean to make Minnie cwy!”

Seokmin let out another sob, which when combined with Soonyoung’s frantic shouting made Jihoon wince again. “Soonie, inside voice for Kitty, please,” the caregiver said, voice gravelly. The little in question nodded, throwing his hands over his mouth.

Jihoon released a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding and approached the crib. With slight difficulty, he lifted Seokmin out of the crib and started to soothe the crying boy. “It’s okay, Minnie. It’s okay. Kitty is here.”

“Ki’y,” Seokmin whimpered, hiding his face in the crook of Jihoon’s neck.

Jihoon cooed sweet nothings into Seokmin’s ear, hoping to calm him down and quiet his sniffles. Eventually, Seokmin was on the verge of going limp in Jihoon’s arms. His chest rose and fell slowly. Jihoon let out a relieved sigh and turned back to Soonyoung, who was pouting.

“Baby,” he said, “Kitty isn’t mad at you for waking up Seokmin, I know Christmas is very exciting.” Soonyoung looked up with wide eyes. “I would’ve liked, however, if you could’ve checked the time first. It’s very, very early, way too early to open presents.”

“Cuddles instead?” said Soonyoung.

“We can do cuddles instead,” Jihoon responded, giving the little a reassuring smile. “How about we go back to you and Shua’s room?” Soonyoung nodded before letting himself be led out of the room by the caregiver, who had Seokmin attached to him at the moment.

When the three exited the nursery, they found Joshua staring at what had to be an interesting pattern in the hardwood floor and picking at his nails.

“Shua?” Jihoon said. Joshua glanced briefly up at Jihoon. “Soonie and Minnie are both okay, angel. Do you want to come with us to cuddle?”

Joshua smiled, stood, and attached himself to Jihoon’s side.

The caregiver chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Joshua nodded. “Let’s go, then.” 

With Seokmin in his arms, Joshua by his side, and Soonyoung at the other, Jihoon walked towards the bedroom that the littles who usually had older headspaces - Junhui, Soonyoung, Joshua, and Seungcheol - slept in. Getting settled into Joshua’s bed with the three littles, Seokmin still attached to his front, the four drifted back off to sleep.

It would not be for another four hours before they awoke again, this time to Jun happily shouting, “Chwistmas! Chwistmas! Chwistmas!” Joshua’s eyes opened right up as he let out a small whine at the sudden shouting while Soonyoung stumbled out of the bed to join Jun’s cheers. Jihoon let out a sigh, and Seokmin just let out a happy gurgle.

“Boys, indoor voices,” Jihoon reminded, absentmindedly running his fingers through Seokmin’s hair.

Jun snapped his attention over to Joshua’s bed before gasping, eyes wide and sparkling. “Kitty! Is Chwistmas!” he whisper-shouted, bouncing very quickly in place.

“I think Kitty heard that, baby,” Jeonghan stated as he stepped into the room. His long black hair was pulled back into a messy, low ponytail, showing he had been up for at least a few minutes before Jun had started alerting the house of what day it was.

“It’s Chwistmas, Daddy!” Soonyoung cheered as he ran over to give the oldest caregiver a big hug.

“Too loud,” Joshua whined, his face muffled by the pillow he had put over his head. 

Jeonghan caught Soonyoung and wrapped him in a tight hug as he gently placed a finger on the little’s lips. “Remember, Soonie, we have to use indoor voices with Shua and Kitty. Especially in the morning.”

Soonyoung nodded, an adorably serious look appearing on his face. “Soonie knows, Daddy. Kitty and Shua are sen-i-tib in the mowning.” Jeonghan and Jihoon both cracked smiles at the adorable mispronunciation from their little tiger.

“Well, Soonie, want to help Daddy get everyone else up?” Jeonghan inquired. Soonyoung nodded enthusiastically and wriggled in Jeonghan’s arms.

The lump that was Seungcheol let out a whine as he sat up in his bed. “‘M up, Daddy. Junnie and Soonie noisy.” He rubbed at his eyes and let out a cute yawn.

Jun gave the newly awake little a sheepish smile. “Sowwy, Cheolie.” He giggled as he scampered over to Seungcheol’s bed and flopped down beside his brother. “Is Chwistmas, tho’!”

Soonyoung tugged on Jeonghan’s pajama top. “We go wake up now?”

“Let’s go, little tiger,” the caregiver replied before pecking Soonyoung’s forehead. 

Before exiting the bedroom, Soonyoung gasped. “Soonie Jr.!” The little rushed over to his bed and grabbed his coveted stuffed tiger from underneath the covers before rejoining Jeonghan and exiting the bedroom.

The caregiver and little made their way to the caregivers’ bedroom, knowing they would need help getting the remaining three littles out of their cribs (or toddler bed in Wonwoo’s case). The second they stepped foot in the room, Soonyoung pounced onto the caregiver closest to the edge of the bed. This meant that Vernon was startled awake by a rambunctious tiger jumping right on top of his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

“Dada, it’s Chwistmas!” Soonyoung cheered.

“That’s great, Soonie,” Vernon gasped, still catching his breath from the initial pounce. “But why did you jump on Dada?”

Soonyoung giggled before holding his hands up to look like claws. “Cause Soonie’s a tigew!” Jeonghan snickered at the response while Vernon just flopped back onto his pillow.

“Well, little tigers have to be nice to their dadas,” pointed out Seungkwan, who had been roused by the ruckus. “Otherwise, Dadas get super surprised and lose their breath.”

“Mama!” Soonyoung squealed, scrambling off of Vernon’s lap and over to Seungkwan. He planted himself right beside his tired mama and leaned down to press a kiss on Seungkwan’s cheek. “Chwistmas, Mama!”

Seungkwan let out groggy laughter as he pushed himself up into a seated position. He pulled Soonyoung into his lap and said, “How about you go get up Appa, and let Mama have five more minutes of sleep?”

Soonyoung nodded dutifully and rolled off Seungkwan, only to be stopped by Chan’s hand flying up from the covers and his muffled voice saying, “Wait, wait, I’m up! Don’t jump on Appa, Soonie!” With a wild bedhead and panicked eyes, he emerged from the blankets.

Soonyoung giggled. Once again, he cheered, “Chwistmas!”

Chan sighed and flopped onto his back. “Appa knows, Soonie,” he said. He grunted as Soonyoung curled up on his stomach.

Vernon yawned as he turned to Jeonghan. “Are all the babies up, too?”

“We decided to wake you three up first so that we could get some help with the babies in the nursery,” Jeonghan explained, flashing the newly awoken three a bright smile.

Almost as if on cue, the conversation was interrupted by Minghao crying. Based on the sound of the cry, it was a combination of his “give me attention” and “need a change” cries. Mingyu and Wonwoo’s cries followed soon after.

Seungkwan was out of the bed in an instant, rushing towards the nursery with Jeonghan right behind him. He opened the door and made his way over to Wonwoo’s bed, while Jeonghan turned his focus to Minghao. Jihoon stepped into the nursery with Seokmin still attached to him like a little koala. Vernon - followed by Joshua, who clung to Chan - made his way to Mingyu’s crib. 

“Daddy’s got you, Hao-Hao,” Jeonghan cooed, lifting Minghao out of his crib. “Does my little mochi need a change?” Minghao nodded, his sobs calming down a bit. 

In another bed, Wonwoo clung onto Seungkwan as the caregiver started rubbing circles on his back. “What’s wrong, Wonu? Why’s my little owl crying?” Seungkwan inquired.

“Hao cwyin’ an’ Minnie gone,” Wonwoo whimpered. 

“Well, Minnie’s here now,” Seungkwan stated, pointing over at the second changing table in the room, where Seokmin was giggling and squealing as Jihoon attempted to unbutton his footie pajamas.

Wonwoo nodded, sniffling and hugging Seungkwan tight. He whimpered again and looked up at the caregiver. “Mama, change?”

Seungkwan hummed, helping the little out of his bed. “It’s okay, baby. That’s what the pull-ups are for.”

After five separate rounds of changes (Seungcheol had used his pull-up as well during the night), the household of thirteen was ready to head downstairs to tear open presents.

In the living room, under and around the tree that stood proud in the center, gifts had been scattered. As the littles filed in, Junhui, Soonyoung, and Seungcheol let out squeals, Joshua flapped his hands excitedly, and Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seokmin, and Minghao - who were just a tad too little to really understand much other than they were about to get presents - cheered and babbled in joy. 

Soonyoung gasped and rushed into the kitchen. An empty plate and a half-drained glass of milk sat on the counter. “Santa got the cookies!” he shouted. (Jihoon hissed and Joshua covered his ears. Jeonghan gently reminded Soonyoung to use his inside voice again.)

“Great job noticing that, baby!” Vernon said, ruffling Soonyoung’s hair when he pranced back into the living room. “I bet Santa loved the cookies you, your brothers, and Daddy made.” Vernon and Jeonghan shared a mischievous look that the littles thankfully missed.

Off in the corner of the living room, Seungkwan and Chan both smiled at the memory of the cookies. It had been a horrible mess to clean up, but it was worth it. They had a plethora of cookies, now; between plates on the counter and storage bags in the freezer, they’d have special Christmas cookies made by their boys until summer.

Junhui tugged on Chan’s sleeve. “Presents now?”

“In just a minute, baby, we need to get some breakfast in your little tummy -” he poked Junhui’s stomach, causing him to giggle and hide in his reindeer onesie “- before we see what kind of sweet treats Santa might have brought you.”

While Junhui pouted, Wonwoo perked up. “Treats?” he asked, eyes wide and glowing.

“After breakfast, little one,” Jihoon restated, a small smile on his face.

“Speaking of which,” Jeonghan said as he stepped out of the living room to move towards the kitchen, “I think it’s time to make the scones!”

“Can Shua help?” Joshua asked. Somewhere during the morning’s chaos, he had moved from Chan’s side to cling to Jeonghan.

Jeonghan took his hand and squeezed. “Sure, angel, just be really careful, and listen to what Daddy tells you,” he said with an easy grin. 

“I wanna help!” said Junhui.

Screeched Soonyoung, “Soonie too!”

Jeonghan sighed and looked to the other caregivers for assistance. He sighed again, this time in relief, when Seungkwan said, “Anyone who wants to help with the scones can go with Daddy in the kitchen.”

In the end, Jeonghan’s little helpers consisted of Joshua, Soonyoung, and Junhui. Seungcheol had since begun to slip further and was content to cuddle and babble with the other babies while they waited for breakfast.

Once the scones were baked and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone (earning more happy hand flaps from Joshua), the family turned their attention to opening the gifts left by “Santa.” They started with each one of them taking turns opening a gift, but sooner than later it had become a free-for-all with ribbons and wrapping paper flying everywhere. Then came 12 more presents for each of them, from their boyfriends. The caregivers were delighted by the gifts their little ones had bought them while big, along with the gifts their fellow caregivers had gotten for them.

Seungkwan had a bright smile on his face as he passed a gift over to Jihoon. “Alright, Hoonie hyung, I think you’re really going to like this one.”

“If it’s another cat-hood onesie like last year, I swear I’ll withhold cuddles for a week,” Jihoon grumbled as he started to remove the wrapping paper. 

“I mean it, Hyung! You’ll actually like it this year!” Seungkwan insisted.

Jihoon playfully rolled his eyes as he removed the top of the box, having gotten all of the paper off. The caregiver’s eyes widened when he saw that sitting inside the box was a top of the line Blue Yeti Microphone and a new pair of Bluetooth headphones. A rush of happiness filled Jihoon as soon as he saw the items, and he felt a familiar need to shake out the energy. The caregiver’s arms started to twitch as he attempted to keep himself from stimming, a blush appearing on his face.

The other caregivers shared concerned looks before Jeonghan stated, “You can stim, you know.”

Jihoon looked up from the gift, confused. “What?”

“Jihoon, one of the loves of my life, we can tell you want to stim, you adorable dunce,” Jeonghan said with a teasing lilt in his voice. Jihoon’s cheeks flushed red. Jeonghan dropped the playful smirk on his face when he noticed the blush. “Hoonie, are you embarrassed?”

“A bit… I mean, I know I can stim, but it’s still embarrassing,” Jihoon muttered, averting his gaze from his boyfriends.

“Hyung, it’s just something that you do,” Vernon argued. He scooched closer to Jihoon and gently hugged him from behind. “It doesn’t make you less of a caregiver or anything like that, so… stim.”

“Plus, it always makes Junnie and Shua happy when they see you do it openly,” Chan pointed out.

Jihoon was silent for a moment as his eyes moved to look at the gift. As soon as the twitch appeared again, he started to lightly shake his hands. A small smile crossed his face as he continued to shake. Jun and Joshua took notice after a couple of seconds and started to smile and giggle. Joshua started to copy his caregiver while Jun bounced in place. The sight was, in short, very adorable.

After presents, Seungkwan and Jeonghan brought out two trays, one filled with possibly spiked cider for the caregivers, and the other hot chocolate to pacify the littles. The caregivers kept half an eye on their babies as they sipped, but otherwise, they could take a moment to moment to relax a little.

As the caregivers momentarily unwound, the littles were sipping on their hot cocoa and comparing presents as they sat on the ground.

Joshua proudly held up the new doll he had received as one of his gifts from Santa. “Look at her, Soonie! She’s so pretty!” The little started to comb his fingers through the doll’s synthetic blonde hair, admiring her features and outfit. He turned his head up to give Soonyoung, who was distracted by his new picture book on tigers, a giant smile. “Her name is Apple White, and she’s Snow White’s daughter. She’s so, so pretty!”

Soonyoung still didn’t respond, immersed in his book.

The smile rapidly disappeared from Joshua’s face when he realized that his headspace brother wasn’t paying attention. He tried again, “Soonie?” 

No response from Soonyoung. Or any of the others, for that matter. They were all absorbed with someone else or their gifts, leaving Joshua alone with his doll. Something twisted in his gut. He was shutting down, not that he had the language to describe that while regressed.

As a last attempt, he turned to Vernon and whimpered, “Dada?”

Vernon turned away from playing with Seungcheol and his new foam blocks without a second thought. Seeing Joshua’s wobbling lip, his face fell and Vernon rushed over to him.

“Shua?” he said, doing a poor job of leveling the panic in his voice. “Dada’s here, baby, can you tell me what happened?” Joshua curled up, then froze. “Will less people help?” Vernon took the tiny bob of Joshua’s head as a nod of confirmation.

Vernon held his palms out flat in front of Joshua. “Do you want to go somewhere else or have people leave? Tap this hand -” he gestured with his left hand “- to go, and tap the other one to have people leave. Okay?” Joshua bobbed his head again before reaching out towards Vernon’s left palm and tapping it ever so gently. “Do you want Dada to carry you, or do you want to walk? Left to be carried, right to walk.” 

Joshua tapped the caregiver’s left hand again. Vernon nodded. “Okay, Dada’s going to pick you up in three, two, one.” On one, Vernon shifted to his feet before scooping the little into his arms and standing up straight.

“Is everything alright, Hyung?” Chan asked, having noticed his boyfriend while playing with Seokmin. Joshua’s breath hitched when more and more gazes fell on him.

Vernon gave a small nod as he started to rub small soothing circles on his princess’s back. “Yeah, we’re just feeling a little overwhelmed right now and need to take a break.”

The other caregivers nodded with knitted brows. “Shua a’wight?” Vernon heard Wonwoo ask as he walked out of the room with Joshua secure in his arms.

Seungkwan reassured him, “Yes, baby, Shua is okay.”

In Joshua’s room, Vernon slowly set the little down on his bed. “Okay, baby,” he said, voice soft, “can you take a deep breath for Dada, then tell me what happened? We can take this one step at a time.”

The little nodded before drawing in a shaky breath. When he received nothing but soft, encouraging words from Vernon, he took another. This continued until the little was calm enough to talk. “Shua was showing Apple White to Soonie, but Soonie wasn’t paying attention. And when Shua tried to show Junnie and Cheollie and even Wonu, they weren’t looking either, and Shua started to feel bad.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Vernon murmured. He reached forward but stopped himself. “Can Dada hug you?” Joshua nodded again, even holding his arms out and making grabby hands at the caregiver. Vernon pulled the little in close, tucking his chin against his neck and rubbing circles on his back.

“I’m sorry you felt bad, baby, I’m sure your brothers didn’t mean it,” he said.

Joshua blurted, “Felt ‘noying.” 

For a moment, Vernon was startled, but he quickly recovered. “Angel, you never have to feel annoying, especially for something like wanting to show off your pretty dolls.” He ran a hand through Joshua’s hair. “If you want to show someone your dolls, I promise you can always come to me, okay?” Joshua nodded against Vernon’s shoulder. 

Said the caregiver, “Do you want to wait a few more minutes before we go back down, or do you want to go back now?”

The little hummed, thinking over his options, before muttering, “Few more minutes, Dada.” 

“Okay, baby. Tell me whenever you’re ready to go back down.” Vernon laid down against Joshua’s pillows, taking the little with him. As promised, they spent several minutes together like that.

When Joshua and Vernon returned downstairs, Soonyoung was instantly rushing over to the two, a deep frown on his face. “‘M sorry, Shua! Didn’t mean to i-nowe you!”

As Vernon gently set him down on his feet, Joshua said, “S’okay, Soonie. I forgive you.”

Soonyoung’s expression altered drastically; he now grinned with the brightness of a thousand suns. “Huggies?” he asked, holding out his arms. 

“Huggies!” Joshua squealed as he wrapped the little tiger in a tight hug.

Things mostly calmed down after that, aside from one moment when Mingyu and Minghao got into a small scuffle over the new rattles they had each gotten. They were the same in size and similar in decoration, both of them colored baby blue. However, the key difference was a puppy embellishment on Mingyu’s rattle, and a white rabbit depicted on Minghao’s. 

Too little to quite tell the rattles apart, however, Minghao reached for Mingyu’s rattle, and vice versa.

Minghao let out a small whine before tugging the rattle towards him. Mingyu tugged back. “Gyu!” Minghao cried, pulling the rattle back towards him.

Mingyu gave the other little a deep pout. “My!”

“Hey, hey, what’s going on over here?” Chan interjected as he walked back into the room from washing off Seokmin’s pacifier. He knelt down, plucking the rattles out of both littles’ hands.

“Appa!” Mingyu protested, turning his pout to Chan.

Minghao, on the other hand, started to sniffle and tear up. “Appa, my…” 

Chan glanced down at the rattles he had taken from the babies before handing Mingyu his puppy rattle and Minghao his rabbit rattle. “There we go, babies. You got your rattles switched up, that’s all.” He rubbed Minghao’s back and ruffled Mingyu’s hair, smiling fondly at both of them. “You’re okay, angels.”

Minghao’s tears instantly cleared up as soon as he got his rattle, shaking it rapidly. Mingyu crawled closer to Chan before clumsily pulling the caregiver into a tight hug. “Aw, you’re welcome, Gyu,” Chan said, smiling at his tall baby.

Aside from those small incidents, the morning was rather calm. Once the littles had eaten a small snack, the babies were put down for their naps. Joshua and Soonyoung got to stay up while Jun decided to take a nap too, just the slightest bit tired. (He totally didn’t almost fall onto his face while playing with his new Draculaura doll.)

As soon as all of the littles were awake, though, the polycule sat down to eat their Christmas dinner. During naptime, Vernon, Jeonghan, and Chan had been in the kitchen working avidly to cook a spread of food fit for thirteen people: bulgogi, japchae, kimchi, tteokbokki, tteok mandu guk, and more. (And, of course, a heaping serving of rice to be split amongst the thirteen.) As they came downstairs, the heavenly smells from the food were the first thing they all noticed, and none of the chefs’ boyfriends wasted a moment before praising them on their skills. 

Hungry and impatient, the babies were quickly strapped into their high chairs while the other littles rushed to sit in their designated seats. Once the caregivers checked and double-checked that they were all settled and ready, the food was brought out. 

Vernon, Jihoon, Chan, Seungkwan, and Jeonghan dished out food for the littles, as well as fed the four babies (Seungcheol had come out of naptime at an older age), stopping every now and then to take bites of their own food. 

However, Wonwoo was giving Seungkwan some issues. “Wonu, baby, can you take just one bite of the bulgogi for Mama?” Seungkwan pleaded.

“Spicy, Mama,” Wonwoo argued, giving the caregiver big pleading eyes. 

Seungkwan forced himself not to sigh in response, knowing that Wonwoo couldn’t help it. Wonwoo had a sensitive stomach that kept him from eating large amounts of spicy foods or seafood, and that translated to little Wonwoo refusing to eat any spicy foods in the first place to avoid a tummy ache.

“What if Mama got you a little bit more soup to eat?” the caregiver suggested. Wonwoo made an uneasy sound.

Without a prompt or a warning, Seungcheol jumped in. “I’s yummy, Wonu!” he said, the food in his cheeks making him look like a squirrel. 

Chan tapped his wrist and reminded him, “Chew, swallow, then talk, baby.”

The little nodded before messily chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth. He then smiled brightly at Wonwoo. “I’s yummy, Wonu! And no’ spicy!”

Seungkwan flashed his little owl an encouraging smile. “So, Wonu, more soup?” Wonwoo nodded, his hair flopping into his face. The caregiver ladled more soup - complete with a hearty portion of dumplings and rice cakes - into Wonwoo’s bowl.

Aside from that, though, dinner was overall calm. At least, it was as calm as a Christmas dinner with eight littles could be. Once dinner was done, the littles were released to the living room to play to their hearts’ content. To continue the festive mood, Jeonghan, with Joshua as his helper, made peppermint tea for the caregivers and bottles for the littlest ones. Joshua, Soonyoung, and Seungcheol, who were all resting around five, got tea diluted with a generous amount of milk in their sippy cups, as they insisted they were big enough to have it. Jeonghan made sure to set a sippy full of (cooled down) hot cocoa next to Junhui, but he was too fixated on the elaborate plot he was acting out with his Monster High dolls to notice.

By the time the littles’ bedtime rolled around, many of them were already tuckered out and beginning to fall asleep where they sat.

“Alrighty, boys, it’s bedtime,” Vernon announced, earning a round of whines from the older littles. Mingyu, Seokmin, Minghao, and Wonwoo, though, seemed to be alright with the decree; they were already falling asleep on top of each other like a pile of kittens.

“‘M not sleepy, Dada,” Jun argued, pouting up at the caregiver.

“No whining, Junnie; you’ve got to get ready for bed,” Seungkwan reprimanded. With a huff and a whine, Jun made his way to his feet and moved to go to his room.

“Come on, babies, all of your toys will still be here in the morning,” Jeonghan chided, beginning to corral Seungcheol and Soonyoung towards the stairs.

Jihoon crouched down in front of Joshua, who was still playing with his Apple White and Holly O’Hair dolls. “Hey, Shua, it’s bedtime, princess.”

“Not sleepy,” Joshua replied. He continued murmuring to himself as he acted out a story with Apple and Holly. During this, though, he let out a loud yawn, and his eyes drooped for just a moment. The little blinked a couple of times before looking up at Jihoon. “I might be sleepy.”

“That’s what Kitty thought, princess,” Jihoon teased. He stood up and held out a hand for his princess, which Joshua promptly took. He stood up, his two new dolls still held tightly in his free hand. “You going to introduce Apple and Holly to Sparkles?”

Joshua nodded. “Yep, I forgot to show them to Sparkles earlier, and she was sad when I saw her after I went potty.”

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that, baby,” said Jihoon. He reached out and started rubbing circles on the little’s back as Jihoon walked Joshua up to the littles’ bedroom. “I’m sure Sparkles won’t be sad once you let her say, ‘Hi,’ to your new friends.”

“Mhm!” Joshua responded simply. He stuck by Jihoon’s side all the way into his room.

Soon, all the littles had been herded upstairs, and the caregivers began the lengthy process of tucking them in. First Seokmin, Mingyu, Minghao, and Wonwoo, who still needed the caregivers to help them finish their bottles and dress them in their pajamas. Wonwoo had become a bit clingy, but a quick lullaby had him fast asleep in his toddler bed.

Then came the older littles. Joshua and Seungcheol were old enough in their headspaces to get into their pajamas by themselves, especially since Joshua wanted to wear a nightgown most nights. Soonyoung and Jun, on the other hand, required a bit of assistance from Jeonghan and Chan.

“Mama! Daddy! Stowy p’ease?” Jun requested, a bright smile on his face as he started to bounce in place on his bed.

Joshua let out a small gasp before shimmying out of bed and over to the pink and white bookshelf that housed all of his storybooks. After scanning the titles, he pulled out a copy of Grimm’s fairy tales, retold for children and littles. Knowing the book by heart at this point, Joshua flipped to Goldielocks and the Three Bears before passing the book to Jeonghan.

The caregiver smiled. “Do you want me to read this for you all, princess?”

“Yes, Daddy,” said the little, a shy smile on his face. 

Jeonghan pressed a kiss on his princess’s forehead before giving Joshua’s hair a quick ruffle. “Then Daddy will read it for you all.” All of the littles got settled into their beds as Jeonghan sat down at the foot of Jun’s bed to start reading the story.

By the time Jeonghan’s soft voice had faded to silence, the littles had drifted off to sleep.

“They’re all so cute!” Seungkwan squealed, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Not as cute as you, Hyung,” Chan retorted. He pressed a quick kiss against his boyfriend’s cheek before smirking as Seungkwan’s cheeks turned red.

“Can we go to bed now?” Jihoon grumbled. “The little ones aren’t the only ones who are tired.”

“Calm down, old man,” Jeonghan teased, pressing a kiss to Jihoon’s cheek, “we’re going to bed now.”

Jihoon let out another grumbled as he clung onto Jeonghan. “Not an old man.”

“And yet you won’t let me call you ‘my little baby’ either,” Jeonghan mused as he guided his sleepy boyfriend to the master bedroom. 

“Every night we have this discussion,” Vernon pointed out, flopping down onto the bed.

Seungkwan curled up beside him. “And every night it ends the exact same way.”

“With Jihoon hyung convinced to be called Hannie hyung’s ‘little baby,” Chan finished as he tossed his flannel onto the dresser.

Jeonghan chuckled, a playful smirk on his face as he joined the youngest three of the polycule in the bed. “Only for Jihoon to act as if it never happened the next morning.”

Jihoon let out a deep sigh. “Do we need to do this every night too?”

All four of the caregivers shared a look with one another before replying with a cheerful, “Yep!” 

Jihoon groaned and threw a pillow over his face; he didn’t want his boyfriends to see the small smile that was forming on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dani - In my heart, Ever After High never got canceled and Monster High never got rebooted! Therefore, both series are still going strong in this universe, and no one can convince me otherwise!
> 
> M - agreed! Monster High and Ever After High are still going strong in this universe!!!


	2. Joshua’s Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joshua’s birthday is as fun and chaotic as one would expect, but the little still loves (almost) every second of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M - I lose plot rights for putting in angst again, someone take google docs away from me. Sorry shua…
> 
> Dani - I mean...I agreed to it. But yeah, sorry Shua!!!

In the early hours of the morning, when the sun had barely risen, Jeonghan tip-toed into Joshua’s room and flicked on the light. He froze when Joshua stirred, but he quickly settled again. Jeonghan let out a sigh of relief. Slowly, he approached Joshua’s bed, and squatted down next to him. 

He ran his fingers through Joshua’s hair, and said in a quiet sing-song, “Good morning, Shua.” Joshua’s eyes began to open at a snail’s pace. “Happy birthday, baby.”

Joshua yawned and sat up. Jeonghan thought his bed head was just about the cutest thing ever. “Birthday?” he asked.

Jeonghan’s eyes crinkled with his smile, and he said, “Yes, angel, it’s your birthday today!”

“Is it really?” Joshua inquired, eyes sparkling with excitement. 

“Yes, my sweet princess, it really is,” Jeonghan confirmed. He held out his arms. “Does my birthday boy want a hug?” Joshua practically threw himself into his daddy’s embrace without a word, a giant smile on his face.

The little started to quietly chant, “Birthday, birthday, birthday, birthday,” earning a chuckle from his caregiver as he did. 

“Well, birthday boy, do you want to get dressed or go see everyone else first?” Jeonghan asked.

Joshua frowned and paused his repetitions to say, “Everyone isn’t here?” His brows creased with worry.

“Shh, baby, they’re just downstairs waiting for you,” Jeonghan soothed, running his hands through Joshua’s hair. He cracked a smile when Joshua reached up to start copying the gesture with Jeonghan’s hair, combing his fingers through the caregiver’s long black locks.

After a moment, Joshua muttered, “Dressed first please.”

Jeonghan pulled back to press a kiss on the little’s cheek before helping Joshua to his feet. “What does my little princess want to wear on his birthday?”

“Princess dress!” Joshua cheered. The little’s hands began to flap in excitement as Jeonghan stepped over to closet his angel shared with Seungcheol, Jun, and Soonyoung and started to comb through Joshua’s little clothes.

“Ooh, which princess dress, baby?” Jeonghan inquired, glancing back at the little.

Joshua let out a small hum, adopting a serious look as he thought through all of the dresses he owned. “Uh… The Rapunzel dress, please?” 

Jeonghan retrieved the dress - it was lavender, and fell to Joshua’s knees - from the closet and helped him into it.

The little princess giggled and spun around once the dress was zipped up. “Thank you, Daddy! Thank you!”

“You’re more than welcome, Shua.” Jeonghan gently grabbed the little’s hand. “Now, let’s go find your brothers.”

They were quickly downstairs and immediately assaulted with an explosion of decorations. Before Joshua could even begin to take the scene in, Junhui was up in his face and yelling, “Surprise, Shua!”

Soonyoung and Seungcheol were right behind shouting, “Surprise! Happy birthday!”

As more cheers and shouts filled the room, Joshua suddenly felt incredibly aware of just how bright the lights in the room were. The scents in the room were overwhelming, even the birthday cake sitting on the coffee table, and the sleeves on his dress were too tight. What made it all worse was the shouting. His ears were ringing, and everything was  _ too much. _ He gasped for breath. His hands flew to find something, anything, to hold onto, and he settled on his own arms, gripping them tightly in desperation. 

The cheers ceased as soon as Joshua let out a sob. It sounded strangled, like it was clawing and scraping its way out of his throat, and made it perfectly clear that the little was in distress. Jihoon maneuvered his way to the little, who had fallen to his knees, and knelt down in front of him. “Shua, Shua, I need you to focus on me, okay? Focus on Kitty.”

Joshua shook his head as his sobs gained some power to them. “Too much!” He curled up, knees and arms protecting his front, and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Shua, can Kitty touch you, or would that also be too much?” Jihoon asked, voice calm and soft. Joshua shook his head again, and Jihoon shuffled back a bit. He waved a hand behind him, too, gesturing to the others to clear out.

Once everyone was out of the room, Jihoon plopped himself in front of the little, sitting down with a patient smile. “It’s just us, princess.” Joshua let out another sob, but he uncurled just a bit at hearing that. “Is there something Kitty can do for you, Shua? Or do you want quiet for a few minutes while you get it all out?” Joshua whined, shrugging his tense shoulders and ducking into his knees. Jihoon nodded, understanding fully well what his princess wanted.

The living room was quiet, save for the hum of the heater and Joshua’s sobs. Jihoon could hear his boyfriends whispering to the littles, no doubt trying to reassure them that things were going to be okay. It was something Jihoon could honestly appreciate about the large polycule; even though there were so many of them, they knew when quiet was needed. 

Jihoon was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a small nudge on his side. He glanced over at Joshua, who still had tears running down his face but was no longer sobbing. “You doing okay, angel?”

“Don’t feel good, Kitty,” Joshua whimpered. “Everything was too much.”

“Lights too bright?” Jihoon asked. The little nodded. “Smells too much?” Another nod. “Everyone a little too loud?”

“A lot too loud,” Joshua muttered, curling back in on himself. “...I’m sorry, Kitty.”

The caregiver turned his attention to Joshua, an eyebrow raised. “Why are you sorry, princess?”

A whimper left the back of Joshua’s throat as he grasped onto his arms again. “Ruined the surprise by crying.”

“You didn’t ruin anything, Shua,” Jihoon argued. He placed a hand on the ground in front of the little. “Can Kitty give you a hug, angel, or do you still want no touching?” The little shuffled closer to the shorter caregiver before sliding onto Jihoon’s lap.

Jihoon pressed a small kiss on Joshua’s nose. “As Kitty was saying, you didn’t ruin anything. Your brain said things were too much, and that’s okay. We should’ve at least told your brothers to not shout when you came down.” Joshua sniffled and nodded, hugging Jihoon tighter. In return, Jihoon took one of Joshua’s hands in his and rubbed it gently with the pad of his thumb

“Tell Kitty when you’re ready for everyone again, okay?” the caregiver said. 

Joshua nodded against Jihoon’s chest, and when he had fully calmed down, he whispered, “Ready, Kitty.”

“Do you want to go with Kitty to get everyone, or do you want to wait here?” Jihoon inquired.

“Go with Kitty,” Joshua stated, his grip on Jihoon’s hoodie tightening for just a moment before relaxing. He gently slid off of Jihoon’s lap before taking hold of the caregiver’s hand and standing up.

The two made their way to the dining room, where the caregivers and other littles had gathered. Jeonghan perked up when he saw Jihoon and Joshua appear in the doorway. “Hey, angel, how are you doing? Are you feeling okay?”

Pressed against Jihoon’s side and hiding in his hoodie, Joshua nodded, and whispered, “Feel better, Daddy.”

“We’re so, so sorry for overwhelming you like that, Shua,” Seungkwan said. His guilt showed in his creased brows.

Soonyoung pushed forward, a gift wrapped in pink paper with a white bow right on the top. “Shua, wanna give this to you.”

“Soonie, buddy, you might have to help Shua a little bit since he’s not wanting to let go of Kitty,” Jihoon stated, a small smile on his face. He glanced back at the birthday boy with that smile still on his face. “Do you want Soonie to show you what’s in there, Shua?”

Joshua nodded again, looking somewhat intrigued. “Please.”

In a flash, the paper was neatly torn off (only because Soonyoung knew Joshua would get upset otherwise), and the top of the box was removed to reveal a baby pink hoodie that appeared to be quilted.

“We were going to wait until we opened presents, but Soonie thought that it might help you, Shua,” Chan admitted as Soonyoung held out the hoodie for Joshua.

The little eyed the hoodie before reaching out and stroking a hand across it. It was soft and smooth; and upon grabbing it, he discovered it was weighted. Joshua let out a small gasp, eyes widening. “It’s like my blankie!” He started to bounce a little as a smile began to form on his face. “It’s like my blankie!”

“That’s right, princess!” Vernon cheered. “We know just how much you like your heavy blankie, so we got you a hoodie just like it!”

In a rush, Joshua attempted to put it on, only to get stuck and turn to Jeonghan for help. The caregiver chuckled and pulled the sweater over his head.

“More gifts?” Jun inquired, holding his gift in his hands. It was a box messily wrapped in blue tissue paper, and the paper was torn in a couple of places. However, it was clear the little had tried his hardest to wrap it on his own.

Joshua glanced over at Jun before over at the dining table where the other presents sat. He glanced around at the other caregivers with bright eyes. “Can I open them now?”

“It’s your birthday, baby,” Chan responded, smiling. “Let’s open some presents.” Joshua and the other littles rushed over to the table, the caregivers joining them with smiles on their faces. 

Jun placed his gift in front of Joshua first, and Joshua attempted to pull the tissue paper off as nicely as he could. The gift itself was an Ever After High book. Joshua let out a squeal, hugging the book close to his chest as he rocked violently back and forth. 

“Careful, baby,” Seungkwan said, slowing him down with a hand on his back.

The grin on Joshua’s face seemed too big for him. He said excitedly, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Junnie knows Shua wike these, so big Junnie got the stowy for Shua,” Jun stated, his energy matching Joshua’s with ease. He was bouncing in place, hopping from one foot to the other to release his energy.

Joshua squealed again. Then he set down the book, turned to Vernon, and said, very matter-of-factly, “Feeling li’ler. Wan’ my paci, please.”

Chan jumped in with, “How about you open this one first, princess.” The other caregivers gave him a knowing look as he pushed a small gift box towards Joshua.

Giving Chan a suspicious glare, Joshua undid the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a pacifier that he knew would become his favorite as soon as he popped it in his mouth. It was magenta, with copious amounts of glitter, and had a crown detailed on the button. On the clip were a series of pink and purple plush pom-pom balls that were incredibly soft to the touch. 

Joshua looked up at Chan with a big smile behind the pacifier and said just a bit too loudly, “T’ank ‘ou, Appa!”

Chan snickered. “You’re welcome.” Gently, he reminded Joshua, “Inside voice, angel.”

As Joshua continued to open more of his gifts (with some assistance from Vernon and Jihoon since he was feeling smaller), a small pile of ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper amassed. And with most of the focus being on Joshua and his new gifts, the pile quickly caught the littles’ attention.

Jun approached the pile before grabbing a green bow (naturally from Vernon’s gift) and sticking it on top of Seungcheol’s head. He giggled loudly and cheered, “Cheowie a pwesent!”

Seungcheol giggled in return. He reached for a ribbon and lazily laid it across Jun’s shoulders. “Junnie a pwesent too!”

Across from them, Minghao cocked his head to the side, curious of what Jun and Seungcheol were doing. Trying to copy his big brothers, he picked up a ribbon, guided it towards his head, and decided that attempting to shove it in his mouth was the right course of action. 

Seungkwan happened to look over just in time to see the ribbon making its new course towards his mochi’s mouth.

“Hao, no!” he screeched. Minghao cocked his head cutely as Seungkwan frantically reached over and pulled the ribbon from him. “That’s not for eating, baby!”

Minghao let out a small whine as the ribbon was taken from him, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“One paci for our little mochi,” Jeonghan stated, his calm tone soothing Seungkwan’s nerves as he returned from the kitchen with Minghao’s pacifier.

Chan chuckled before looking over at Vernon. “We should probably put away the paper and bows before Minnie, Gyu, or Wonu get a similar idea.”

“Can Soonie help?” Soonyoung asked, a bright smile on his face.

“Shua too!” Joshua chirped. 

And who were the caregivers to say no to such adorable requests? 

After ducking into the kitchen to grab garbage bags, then handing them out, Vernon instructed the two littles to pick up as much trash as possible. For the littles, however, it turned out that as much as possible wasn’t very much; between Soonyoung fumbling with the wrapping paper and Joshua making a point of folding it neatly, the caregivers ended up cleaning a significantly larger portion of the room.

By the time the wrapping paper and ribbons had been cleaned up, Jeonghan had brought the cake out, all of the large sparkly purple candles already lit. Joshua’s eyes shined brightly, and he started to flap his hands at the sight of the pink-frosted chocolate cake. 

“You excited for your cake, angel?” Vernon cooed, combing his fingers through the little’s hair. Joshua nodded, still visibly buzzing with excitement. “Dada got the cake and candles with you in mind.”

“We sing now?” Soonyoung asked, a bright smile on his face.

“Yes, little tiger, we’re singing now,” Chan teased as he ruffled the excited boy’s hair.

As the littles started to very loudly (yet somehow on-key) sing to Joshua, the caregivers joined in with much softer voices. Jeonghan set the cake down in front of the birthday boy just as the song finished up. Joshua leaned forward and blew. The candles appeared to be blown out for a moment before instantly relighting.

“What the- Vernon?” Jihoon snapped his attention over to the younger. The caregiver in question perked up just as Joshua attempted to blow out the candles again to no avail. Jihoon hissed, “What kind of candles did you buy?”

Vernon blinked once, clueless. “Normal ones.” Joshua whined loudly when the candles relit again, and he glanced nervously in the little’s direction. “...I think.”

Jihoon sighed. “I’m gonna go check the box,” he grumbled. He took a few steps to the garbage can and looked inside. On the top of the heap of ribbons and wrapping paper was a box that advertised prank candles.

The smaller caregiver walked over to Vernon with an unreadable expression, the box in hand, before holding it up. “Oh… I messed up,” Vernon muttered, the guilt instantly appearing on his face.

Jeonghan flashed the younger a small smile. “Hey, it’s alright, Vernonnie, I’ve got a couple candles leftover from Jihoon’s birthday.”

With a quick switch and lighting of the new candles, Joshua finally blew out his candles, and the cake could be eaten.

Joshua smiled brightly and began bouncing in place as the cake was cut. “Cownew pwease?”

“You want a corner piece, baby?” Jeonghan asked, smiling down at the little. Joshua nodded so quickly that his hair flew in front of his face. “Calm down, little one. Daddy will give you a corner piece.” With the little on the edge of his seat, Jeonghan cut the first slice of cake and handed it to Joshua, then continued with the rest of his boyfriends.

By the time everyone was done eating their cake, all of the littles had crumbs and frosting all over their face. Even Joshua was messy, with chocolate pink frosting on the corners of his lips.

The caregivers couldn’t help but snicker at the sight. “Looks like our babies got attacked by the cake monster,” Chan teased. Jun shrieked and giggled with delight when Chan pinched his cake-coated cheek.

“Mama, cwean pwease?” Joshua requested as he looked to Seungkwan with wide eyes.

Seungkwan chuckled as he resisted the urge to press a kiss against Joshua’s messy face. “I think it might be bathtime for the babies.”

“Bathtime!” Soonyoung cheered. He started to bounce up and down in his seat as he beamed at the caregivers. “Can we have bubbwes?”

“You can have all the bubbles, little tiger!” Jihoon teased, tickling Soonyoung’s sides. The little giggled and squirmed as the other caregivers rounded up the littles.

Getting the littles up to the bathrooms was fairly easy; it was then wrangling them all into the tubs that took a bit of work.

“I wanna go first,” Joshua insisted, eyes glossy. The caregivers couldn’t tell whether they were crocodile tears, but if they had someone willing to get in first, they certainly weren’t going to fight it.

Vernon took his hand out of the bathwater, shaking off the droplets clinging to his arm. “Water’s ready. Do you want Papa to help you get undressed?” he said. Joshua nodded. Vernon cooed at his pout. 

While Vernon helped Joshua out of his clothes and into the bath, Jihoon did the same for Soonyoung. Once they were together, giggling and playing with the bubbles that kept climbing higher, the two caregivers began their struggle coaxing Junhui in with the pair. 

In a different bathroom, Seungkwan and Chan tried to convince Wonwoo, Minghao, and Seungcheol into the bathtub; in another still, Jeonghan worked on keep track of Seokmin and Mingyu, who were adamantly against bathing despite the cake on their cheeks and in their hair. (At one point, Junhui had gotten too excited and accidentally sent a plate of cake skyward, resulting in heads of hair just as messy as their faces.)

“C’mon, lovebug, Mama made sure the water was just right for you,” Seungkwan cooed.

Seungcheol whined indignantly. “No!”

“Are you sure, sweetpea?” Chan asked. “We’ve got the vanilla bubbles, and the water isn’t too hot.”

A frown crossed the little’s face as Wonwoo crawled towards the tub. He gave the bubbles a sniff before smiling up at Seungkwan. “Bubbwes!”

“That’s right, Wonu; the bubbles smell very nice,” Seungkwan cheered. The little, still wearing his overalls and onesie, attempted to crawl into the tub, but he was very quickly intercepted by Seungkwan. “Oh, you can’t get in the tub just yet, little owl. Mama has to get you undressed.

Minghao let out a small yawn as he cuddled against Chan’s chest, earning a coo from the caregiver. “Aw, Hao-Hao, you can’t go to sleep just yet, baby. We have to get you all cleaned up.” The little let out a small whine in protest, but thankfully he allowed Chan to start undressing him. 

Seungcheol, however, was still whining about getting into the tub. “No bath, Mama!” Pouting, he stomped his foot to emphasize this point.

Seungkwan cocked an eyebrow. “Cheolie, you want to try and say that again in a nicer way for Mama?” The little harrumphed and turned away. Seungkwan prepared to pull out the big guns.

“Baby,” he said, “I’m going to give you until three to try again, okay? One…” Seungcheol stayed facing the door. “Two…” Seungcheol whined and twitched as if he intended to turn around. 

Just as Seungkwan opened his mouth for the last number, Seungcheol whipped back to him and burst out with, “Cheowie sowwy, Mama! Weally sowwy!”

“Aw, lovebug, it’s okay,” Seungkwan cooed, opening his arms up for the little to hug him. The little rushed into Seungkwan’s embrace, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing until he grunted in pain and asked him to let up. When Seungcheol pulled back from the hug, Seungkwan smiled at his little lovebug. “Alright, baby, are you ready for a bath now? Mama promises it can be nice and quick, or we can get some toys out for you.” That instantly raised the little’s spirits as he allowed Seungkwan to undress him.

In the other bathroom, Jeonghan, who had been sacrificed to bathe the two babies, fought back letting out a loud sigh as Seokmin sobbed at Mingyu splashing the bubbly water into his eyes. After a struggle and a half, he had finally managed to get them both into the bath, and now they were causing trouble for himself and each other.

He swallowed his aggravation. “Oh, Minnie, baby, it’s okay, sunshine,” Jeonghan soothed, gently pouring water over the little’s eyes and dabbing them with a dry washcloth.

Seokmin clumsily grasped onto Jeonghan’s sweater in an attempt to make the caregiver stop. All he did, though, was succeed in getting Jeonghan’s sweater even more soaked than it already was. 

Mingyu, on the other hand, appeared to be tearing up himself at causing his brother to cry like this. Just Jeonghan’s luck, his other little baby started crying just as loudly as Seokmin.

The (extremely) frazzled caregiver looked back and forth between his two babies before letting out a small sigh and grumbling, “Next time, I’m cheating at the coin toss.”

Eventually, all the caregivers reconvened in the living room with their clean babies. The rest of the day went rather peacefully; Joshua enjoyed his birthday gifts, attempting to share them as best as he could, and none of the other babies made a fuss. By the time bedtime rolled around, the littles were all tuckered out.

Chan stepped into the living room with three baby bottles tucked into his arms. “I’ve got warm milk for our babies.”

Minghao whined, reaching out his arms for the bottle, while Jeonghan attempted to soothe him. Seungkwan, petting Seokmin’s hair, said, “That’s great, thank you, Channie.” Chan passed out the bottles to the caregivers cradling the heads of the littlest babies in their arms, and Vernon smiled down at Mingyu as he guided the bottle towards his waiting lips.

On the other side of the room, Wonwoo tugged on Jihoon’s shirt and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Can Wonu…” He hesitated. He hoped his puppy eyes would sufficiently convey the message.

Jihoon ruffled his hair. “Can you what, little owl?” he said. Wonwoo pulled on Jihoon’s shirt again, too embarrassed to say it out loud. Jihoon cocked an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. “Wonu, baby, do you want to suckle?”

The little let out a small whine and hid his head in Jihoon’s chest for a moment before whispering a small, “Yes.”

Jihoon removed his shirt before leaning back. “Go ahead, baby.” Wonwoo crawled onto the caregiver’s lap and latched on without another thought. He hummed, sucking slowly, warm and content, as Jihoon ran a hand through his hair.

The littles started to wind down, especially the babies, and the caregivers were beginning to relax. 

Wonwoo was the first to tap out, falling asleep in Jihoon’s lap as the caregiver continued to cradle him. Seokmin was next, followed by Mingyu then Minghao. This left the older littles still awake, but not by much.

Looking around at the sleepy babies, Jeonghan quietly announced, “I think it’s maybe bedtime.” 

Joshua let out a small gasp, perking up a bit. He wheeled around and smiled up at the caregiver. “Daddy, can Shua sleep in the big bed?”

“Of course, princess!” Seungkwan said. He maneuvered around Seokmin and ruffled the birthday boy’s hair. 

“But…” Joshua said. Seungkwan waited patiently for him to finish. “Can Minnie and Wonu and Hao-Hao and Junnie and eve’yone else sleep in the bed, too?”

Seungkwan looked to Vernon, who replied, “That’s very sweet of you, baby, but do we have enough blankets? We’re not exactly good at sharing…” He looked to Chan for a third opinion.

As Chan contemplated the sheer logistics of all thirteen of them either sharing blankets (not an option) or having their own, which would require taking the blankets off of their individual beds, Joshua shuffled over to him and gave the youngest caregiver big, pleading puppy dog eyes. “Please, Appa?”

“Lee Chan, don’t you -”

“We can take blankets from our bed,” Chan said without thinking, cutting off Jeonghan. As Joshua and Jun cheered, Chan could feel Jeonghan’s withering glare from across the living room. Nervously, he glanced over at the oldest of the caregivers with a sheepish smile on his face. “Hyung, if I promise to answer the question for the next week, will you not kill me?”

“Channie, who’s baby are you?” Jeonghan inquired, any sign of annoyance gone.

Chan let out a sigh as Seungkwan, Vernon, and Jihoon snickered, resigning himself to his fate. “Jeonghannie hyung’s baby…” 

Jeonghan’s smile was borderline sadistic. “And for how long?”

“Until I’m thirty, and I’m starting to think forever,” the youngest grumbled. Glancing over at Joshua, who was happily stimming, made Chan’s annoyance slip away.

After spending twenty minutes getting the littles into their pajamas and then an extra five gathering all of the blankets from the littles’ bedrooms (and even a couple extra from the linen closet for good measure), the large polycule had finally settled in the master bedroom on the big bed. The bed in question was technically two beds - each 12 feet wide and intended for families - pushed foot-to-foot so that all 13 of them could comfortably sleep together.

Joshua flopped onto the large bed with his stuffie, a rainbow teddy bear named Sparkles, clutched tightly in his arms. He quickly turned around and made grabby hands for the caregivers, still filing through the door. Soonyoung and Junhui quickly followed Joshua’s lead, jumping onto the bed with blankets draped around their shoulders like capes.

“Okay, little ones, calm down,” Jihoon chided. “It’s bedtime.”

Soonyoung giggled, shaking his head. “We’re superheroes, Kitty!”

“Well, even superheroes need sleep, little tiger,” Seungkwan reminded as he lowered a sleeping Seokmin onto the bed. “Plus, you don’t want to wake your baby brothers, do you?” Soonyoung and Jun shared a look before shaking their heads, eyes wide. 

As the rest of the littles and caregivers entered the room, Joshua’s eyes started to droop. He snuggled up under his weighted purple blanket and popped his new pacifier into his mouth. A smile formed around the paci as Jihoon laid down next to him. He slid under the blanket, smiled softly at Joshua, and rested an arm on his waist.

“How you doing, angel?” the pint-sized caregiver asked, his voice a whisper.

Joshua let out a small hum. “Good, Kitty.” He let out a yawn and started rubbing at his eyes. “Sleepy, too.”

Jihoon brought the little into a cuddle and pressed a kiss on his princess’s forehead. “Go to sleep then, little one. I’m glad you had a good birthday.” Joshua was out like a light in an instant. Between his weighted blanket, his teddy bear, his paci, and Jihoon’s voice, it was impossible for him to stay awake. Somewhere in the back of his hazy mind, he knew that the others were being tucked in, too. Before he was fully asleep, he snuggled closer to Jihoon, who didn’t question it when Jeonghan shuffled in to spoon him. 

On the opposite side of the bed, Seokmin, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Minghao were fast asleep in a cuddle pile, Chan yawning and curling up next to them. He held Mingyu’s hand as he nodded off.

Seungcheol, Soonyoung, and Jun had formed their own cuddle pile near Joshua, their pile resembling a puppy pile in a way. Seungcheol laid at the bottom, his thumb planted in his mouth, as Jun and Soonyoung rested on top of him. This left Vernon and Seungkwan; the latter made sure to replace Seungcheol’s thumb with his pacifier before collapsing on top of Vernon, apparently having deemed his stomach a suitable pillow. Soonyoung had somehow spread his limbs enough to cover an obnoxiously large portion of the bed, and was on top of Vernon’s arm. 

And soon they were asleep. With the warm, comforting presence of the others, all 13 were dreaming within minutes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M - if you haven’t noticed by now from the tags and the content, Joshua, jun, and woozi are neurodivergent (autism and adhd, adhd, and autism, respectfully). I have adhd and Dani has autism, so we wanted some representation and felt qualified to write this. Questions are welcome, but if you make a disrespectful/ignorant comment I will personally break your kneecaps.
> 
> Dani - I will be cheering them from the sidelines. And then I will give you a swift kick to the kidneys.


	3. New Year’s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’d think that New Year’s Eve would be relatively relaxing since the littles have a bedtime. But alcohol plus Vernon and Seungkwan plus three littles staying up until midnight never equals anything peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dani - Happy 2021, everyone! Fingers crossed that this year is a lot better than last year! If it isn’t, I’m going to need a stronger anti-depressant.
> 
> M - felt that. I’m desperately praying to a god that I don’t believe in that we’ll actually have January and not just December 32nd. At least we can live vicariously through our boys!
> 
> TW: alcohol, descriptions of being drunk/hungover, brief mention of vomiting

“Please, Mama, please!” Soonyoung pleaded as he followed closely behind Seungkwan. The caregiver was carrying a bottle of champagne in one hand and a platter of brie and crackers in the other.

“Soonie, baby, Mama’s already made his mind,” Seungkwan argued. “And you little ones need your sleep.”

Soonyoung let out a loud whine. “But Hao-Hao’s getting to stay up!”

Minghao repressed a chuckle as he passed by, opting to ruffle Soonyoung’s hair instead. “That’s because  _ Baba  _ is big today, little tiger,” he said. 

Soonyoung grumbled in response. Thankfully, Junhui was there to back him up as his partner in crime. 

“Please, Mama? Pretty, pretty, please?” he begged. 

Seungkwan startled and nearly dropped the platter in his hands; Jun seemed to appear from nowhere. He sighed. “No, babies, I’ve already told you that you need to get your sleep. You stayed up plenty late on Shua’s birthday.”

“Listen to your mother, kids,” Vernon said, planting a kiss on Seungkwan’s cheek and grabbing a cracker while he was distracted.

Wonwoo, who had been trailing Vernon and pleading with him just as Soonyoung and Jun were with Seungkwan, let out a scandalized gasp. “Papa’s s’posed to be on ouw side!” he said.  _ “Twaitow!” _

Seungkwan turned around to speak through gritted teeth and a threatening smile. “Vernon,” he hissed, “if you promised any of the babies that they can stay up later than 9:30, I will personally castrate you, and I know for a fact that Jeonghan hyung will help.”

“Wha’s cast’ate, Mama?” Seungcheol asked, toddling into the room to join the campaign.

Chan strolled into the room to snag a stack of crackers while Seungkwan was busy fuming at Vernon. “It means that Mama is going to yell at Papa like Daddy and Kitty do to you when you’re being too loud, only a whole lot worse,” he said through a mouthful, walking back into the living room to continue watching Joshua play with his new dolls. The littles blanched and gaped.

Minghao let out a small giggle before turning his focus to Seungkwan. “Come on, Kwannie, let the babies have some fun. It is New Year’s Eve.”

“Do you want to try explaining that idea to Jeonghan hyung?” Seungkwan questioned, the poison in his voice now dripping onto Minghao. 

“Explain what idea to me?” Jeonghan asked as he entered the living room. Seokmin was secure in his arms and Jihoon was close behind with Mingyu crawling after him.

“Two of our  _ darling _ boyfriends want to let the littles stay up until midnight,” Seungkwan stated.

“What?!” Jeonghan snapped. His curious look transformed to seething in a split second. 

Minghao smiled, shrugging. “To be honest, Wonwoo, Seokmin, Mingyu, and maybe Cheolie will be out like lights by their usual bedtime. And if Joshua, Soonyoung, and Jun manage to stay awake, well… it’s a right of passage for kids and littles alike.”

“Baba’s my favowite now,” Seungcheol said bluntly.

Joshua nodded, looking up from his Apple White doll. While Chan doubled over with laughter on the couch, the little yelled, “Me too, sorry, Kitty.”

Jihoon chuckled. “Kitty’s not offended, princess. He’s just very amused right now.”

“I mean, think about it,” said Vernon. He was hesitating under Jeonghan’s gaze, which held all the heat of a thousand dying suns. “What’s the worst that can really happen?”

“They don’t get enough sleep and everyone is crabby tomorrow,” Seungkwan said, folding his arms over his chest.

“And you and Minghao will be dealing with it, since you suggested letting them stay up late,” added Jeonghan.

Minghao flashed a bright smile at the oldest. “We accept those terms, hyung.”

“Baba’s the best!” Jun squealed.

Jeonghan and Seungkwan shared a look. “Tiny traitors, the lot of them,” Seungkwan muttered.

Jihoon snickered as he plopped down onto the couch. “You’re both just bitter that Minghao replaced you as the favorite after being big for less than a day.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny this statement,” Jeonghan said, refusing to make eye contact with Jihoon. The shortest rolled his eyes before leaning over and pressing a kiss on Jeonghan’s cheek.

“Sulking is not a good look on you, hyung,” Jihoon stated.

Jeonghan scoffed. “I always look good.” He glared at Vernon when he giggled. “You’re already in trouble, Vernonnie! Don’t push it!”

“Daddy, Mama!” Soonyoung demanded, tugging on Seungkwan’s shirt. “Can we stay up or what?!”

Seungkwan and Jeonghan shared a look, then the former sighed and grumbled, “Fine.”

With that, the littles - bouncing, cheering, excited - sat down with their caregivers to watch movies into the new year.

Of course, though, most of the littles were out like lights by their usual bedtime. The first to pass out were Mingyu and Seokmin, who had fallen asleep on their caregivers’ laps thirty minutes into  _ Frozen _ . Wonwoo was next to fall, falling asleep over a sippy cup of hot cocoa while  _ Fixer-Upper _ played in the background. Jeonghan laughed softly at the scene and transferred Wonwoo’s sippy to the coffee table. After Wonwoo was Junhui, even though he had rubbed at his eyes and desperately tried to stay awake. Vernon felt a bit bad for the little while carrying him upstairs to his bedroom after the movie had finished. Seungkwan felt significantly less sympathy.

Despite four of the seven littles being out for the count after one movie, three did still remain. Soonyoung, Joshua, and Seungcheol were still wide awake after  _ Frozen  _ finished, and Joshua rushed over to Minghao with a smile. “Baba! Baba! Can we please watch  _ Frozen 2 _ next? Please, please, please?!”

“How does he have so much energy?” Jihoon muttered, somewhat in awe. “Shua’s usually sleepy around this time.”

“I think he’s just persistent,” Jeonghan said, chuckling.

Joshua shook his head as he started to bounce in place. “No, big Shua drank coffee earlier so I could stay up!”

The caregivers’ eyes widened at the revelation, and the younger ones couldn’t help but side-eye Jeonghan and Seungkwan. 

“Kwannie, remind me to smack a certain L.A. boy upside the head the next time he’s big,” Jeonghan hissed, keeping a smile on his face for the littles.

“Gladly,” Seungkwan grumbled. He glanced over at Seungcheol and Soonyoung. “Babies, did big Cheolie and big Soonie do the same thing?” Soonyoung shook his head while Seungcheol shrugged. 

Minghao cocked an eyebrow. “Cheolie, why the shrug, baby?”

“Had some of big Shua’s drink,” Seungcheol admitted. The little wolf stuck his tongue out, and a pout formed on his face. “It was icky, but now Cheolie’s awake.”

Soonyoung pounced on top of Seungcheol, earning a yelp from the little tiger’s prey. “Soonie just ate some of his Christmas candy!”

“So two littles have caffeine in their systems, and Soonie’s just on a sugar high… Like always,” Chan summarized.

“Fantastic,” Vernon said dryly.

“I need a drink,” Seungkwan muttered, leaning back on the couch with a sigh. 

Minghao tried - and failed - to console his boyfriends with, “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. We may as well enjoy New Year’s with them, right?” He was met with unamused stares from the caregivers and affirmations that he was the favorite from the littles.

Once Minghao managed to (half-heartedly) plead his case to not sleeping on the couch, Seungkwan decided to pop open the champagne bottle. Not literally, of course, as the noise tended to make both Jihoon and Joshua tense. 

“This is not a toast,” he clarified as he poured some into a glass. “I am simply de-stressing. Loosening up.” He poured glasses for Vernon and Jeonghan, which only the former took. 

“I’m saving my glass for midnight,” Jeonghan stated. He looked back and forth between the two caregivers as they started to down their glasses. “Please, for the love of all things beautiful like me and our babies, don’t get drunk this year.”

“Your loss,” Seungkwan said with a shrug at the same time Vernon teased, “No promises.” 

Jeonghan was sure his internal screaming was loud enough for the others to hear.

Flashing his boyfriend a sympathetic look, Chan interjected, “Can you both try since we have three of our babies down here?”

“I will try, but I still make no promises,” Seungkwan argued as he refilled his glass. “We got the good stuff this year.”

Soonyoung gently tugged on Jihoon’s pajama pants and looked up at the caregiver with pleading eyes. “Kitty, can we try some?”

“No, baby, we have something else special for you and your brothers,” he responded, coping much better with his stress than Seungkwan and Vernon. 

“Can we -”

“Give me just a minute to go get it, little tiger.” Jihoon ruffled Soonyoung’s hair as he stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Jeonghan perked his head up. “Can you grab me a soda, Hoonie?”

“Me too, hyung?” Chan requested.

“Sure thing!” Jihoon responded, raising his voice so he could be heard from the kitchen. After a few minutes, he returned with two soda cans shoved into his sweatpants pockets and the littles’ sippy cups, all of which were filled with sparkling grape juice.

“Thank you, Kitty!” Joshua chirped, a small smile on his face as he accepted his pink sippy cup and started to gulp down its contents.

Soonyoung let out a content sigh as he took a sip. “This is good, Kitty!”

“We’re glad you like it, babies,” Chan responded. He reached forward for his can of soda and held it up. “Now, who wants to watch Frozen 2?!” The three littles let out loud cheers, mimicking Chan by raising their sippy cups high in the air.

The next few hours went by in a blur. The littles enjoyed their sparkling grape juice, and the caregivers enjoyed their drinks. Jeonghan, Jihoon, Minghao, and Chan stuck with soda until it got closer to midnight. Meanwhile, Seungkwan and Vernon continued to refill their glasses with champagne. 

By the time that midnight hit, the two caregivers were quite tipsy from so much alcohol. And for better or (usually) for worse, both Vernon and Seungkwan were  _ very  _ clingy drunks. As they counted down into the New Year, they already had hands on each other’s waists.

In unison, the eight of them cheered, “...Three, two, one, happy New Year!” Jeonghan turned to kiss Soonyoung’s forehead, as did Chan to Joshua and Jihoon to Seungcheol. Minghao gave them each a kiss in turn, and they giggled while the rest of the caregivers complained. Vernon and Seungkwan, on the other hand, had thrown back another swig of champagne and were now tangled at the mouth. 

The two of them became completely unaware of the presence of the others as they became more and more passionate in their kissing. Vernon, eyes closing softly, wrapped his arms tighter around Seungkwan’s waist. Seungkwan let out a breathy whine as he leaned farther into the kiss.

“Would you two get a room?” Jihoon screeched, covering his eyes. “The babies are still up, idiots!”

When neither of them responded, Jeonghan and Minghao placed gentle hands on the littles’ backs, hoping to turn them away from the scene that was becoming less and less appropriate for regressed eyes. Chan was more proactive; he grabbed a pillow and smacked Vernon over the head with it.

“Save that for our room, you drunks!” Chan hissed.

“H-Hey, have some -  _ hic _ \- respect for your hyungs, Channie,” Seungkwan ordered, slurring his words.

Jeonghan let out a sigh. “Every year with this.” He forced himself to smile as he looked back down at the littles. “Alright, babies, since it’s finally midnight, how ‘bout we go to bed now?”

“Yeah, we can tuck you three in, and Baba and Daddy will read you a bedtime story,” Minghao offered, attempting to rush the littles upstairs before anything escalated between Seungkwan and Vernon.

The offer of a story was enough for Joshua, who sprung to his feet and started rushing over to the stairs. “Come on, Baba! Storytime!”

“Slow down, little one,” Jihoon said, a hand now on his shoulder, “not everyone has as much energy as you.”

Joshua whined, bouncing in place while he waited for everyone else (bar Vernon, Seungkwan, and Chan) to catch up. While there was some slight hesitation from Soonyoung and Seungcheol, they were also quickly coaxed out of the room, leaving the youngest three alone.

“Thank whatever god is above,” Chan grumbled. He turned his focus back to the drunk couple, who had resumed their makeout session. “Okay… Hey, hyungs?” They glanced over at the youngest. “Wouldn’t this be a lot more comfortable in our bed?”

Vernon pulled back, earning a small whine from Seungkwan. “Hey, babe -  _ hic  _ \- Channie m-might have a point.”

“But I’m comfy here,” Seungkwan argued. To prove his point, he cuddled closer to Vernon. 

“You could lay down, though,” Chan reasoned, “and maybe someone else would join you.” That last bit was a white lie; whoever wasn’t asleep would most definitely ignore the two of them, but if it would help get them upstairs... 

With some slight struggling, he managed to drag the caregivers up to their room. However, much to his chagrin, Seungkwan attempted to go and say goodnight to the littles. “Kwannie hyung, no, I think they’re already fast asleep,” Chan said hurriedly. He failed to mention that they both reeked of alcohol, something that would most definitely upset Junhui if they accidentally woke him up.

By some miracle up above, the caregiver bought the half-truth and stumbled over to the bed instead. He and Vernon were out in seconds, and Chan couldn’t help but stare at them with an amused grin. “I think Hannie hyung’s found new targets for his torment tomorrow.”

The next day, both Vernon and Seungkwan woke up groaning and clutching their heads. “God, did we ram our heads on the walls or something?” Vernon muttered, an arm covering his eyes from the bright light streaming in from the window that Jihoon had opened.

“More like you two got drunk on champagne,” Minghao pointed out. The two sat up to see the flip standing over them with an amused look.

Seungkwan responded to them with, “I think I’m gonna be sick.” The sounds that followed after he rushed to the bathroom made the other two cringe. Upon his return, he flopped face first onto the bed.

“I have so many regrets,” he groaned. Vernon patted his back sympathetically.

“Jeonghan hyung is going to make you both have even more,” Minghao stated. “And I don’t think Chan and Jihoon hyung are going to be too sympathetic.” Both of them grumbled; they didn’t have the energy to argue, and even if they did, Minghao was right. They were, however, glad that he was feeling bad for - or at least tolerating - the two of them.

After a bit of resting and gaining back some of their energy, the three made their way downstairs, where everyone was already wide awake. The littles were playing with the toys they had gotten for Christmas, which were still new enough to provide boundless entertainment and excitement that led to ungodly noise levels no one was doing anything about. 

Jeonghan looked up from his phone with a gleeful and sadistic grin on his face as Seungkwan and Vernon walked into the dining room for breakfast. “Good morning, you two? How are you doing this morning?”

“Horrible, if that makes you feel any better,” Seungkwan grumbled. He laid his head down on the table. “Can you please tell the babies to quiet down just a little bit? My head is killing me.”

“Well, hyung, you and Vernon hyung were pretty insistent on drinking all that champagne last night,” Chan reminded. “It’s not the babies’ fault that you’re hungover.”

“This, Channie, is why you’re my favorite for today,” Jeonghan stated with a cheery tone. He turned back to Vernon and Seungkwan, looking just the slightest bit too gleeful at their suffering. “You really did bring this upon yourselves.”

“We know, but hey,” Vernon mumbled, reaching for a glass of water and the largest mug they owned for his morning coffee.

Jihoon let out a small grumble as he started to fidget in his seat, picking at a random spot on his sweater. “Maybe we could cut them a bit of a break. The babies are being pretty loud.” 

Meanwhile, in the living room, Joshua, desperately trying to stay focused on his new books despite the background noise, looked just as uncomfortable; he ran his hands quickly through his hair, over and over, but none of the caregivers were present to look at him and therefore didn’t notice. Jun copied him, even though he wasn’t quite sure what was going on.

Jeonghan’s smile began to turn into a smirk, focused on revenge just a bit too much to notice his boyfriend’s distressed state. “Not just yet, Hoonie. I think they need just a bit more of a lesson.” The caregiver stepped away for a moment before returning to the breakfast table with a platter filled with pancakes. “Boys! Breakfast is ready!” Seungkwan and Vernon flinched at Jeonghan’s announcement, only to cringe at their babies (sans Joshua and Jun) shouting and cheering.

“Babies,” Seungkwan said weakly, “do you think you could take it down just a little bit?” No one heard him over the sounds of silverware scraping and littles yelling. He gratefully accepted the water, painkillers, and coffee that Vernon offered him.

Jihoon began to grit his teeth as the noise grew louder and louder, becoming almost unbearable. Hyper aware of every little sound, he felt like his ears were too big for his head and getting larger by the second. Next to him, someone’s fork was clattering against their plate. Across the table, another was smacking their lips obnoxiously. Normally, Jeonghan and Seungkwan made the littles be well-behaved during meals, but Jeonghan was too focused on his vengeance and being stubbornly ignorant to this behavior, and Seungkwan was too hungover to make the babies stop. A few seats down from him, someone’s sippy cup sounded like thunder as it fell to the floor, and Jihoon lost it.

Slamming his hands over his ears, he roared, “Would it seriously kill anyone to be  _ fucking quiet  _ for just five minutes?!”

The response to his outburst was immediate.

First were the gasps from the caregivers, accompanied by pale faces and instant regret.

Next came the crying; Seokmin and Mingyu went first, sniffling at first then openly crying within a few seconds. Wonwoo skipped the first stage and went straight to bawling as soon as he saw Seokmin and Mingyu doing so. Jun and Joshua - once they recovered from their shock - crumbled. The former tried to hold his tears in, but eventually curled into a ball and succumbed to sobs. Joshua didn’t even try and buried his face in his knees as soon as he could breathe again. The caregivers thanked the gods that Seungcheol and Soonyoung, who were in older headspaces today, were only shell-shocked.

Jihoon shot out of his seat, which knocked it onto the floor, and rushed out of the dining room, overwhelmed by everything. Jeonghan and Chan were close behind him while the other caregivers quickly took to the task of comforting their crying and shocked babies.

When Jeonghan and Chan arrived at their bedroom, Jihoon was on their bed with his back to the door. His body was trembling as sobs wracked his body.

“Hoonie,” Jeonghan whispered.

“Go away!” Jihoon barked, glaring at the window by the bed. “I want five minutes of quiet!” A sniffle left the smaller man. “Neither of you even  _ tried _ to keep the babies quiet. You were too busy being petty to consider…” He trailed off and let out a frustrated sound.

Chan sighed, resting his forehead against the doorframe. “Jihoon hyung, we’re… I’m sorry. You’re right, we should’ve thought about you and Shua first,” he said, almost too ashamed to get the words out.

“But you  _ didn’t, _ ” Jihoon spat. He hiccuped. Chan and Jeonghan felt their hearts break a thousand times over when they took a tentative step forward and saw how violently his body quivered.

Jeonghan gently slid onto the bed. “Jihoon, there isn’t much either of us can say except… I’m sorry.” His voice choked up, but he kept his emotions in check. Now was not the time to cry. “Hyung is sorry that he pushed you and your feelings aside. You and Shua shouldn’t have been pushed into a meltdown like that. I should’ve been more attentive to you both and stopped being petty the moment you asked me to make the littles calm down.” 

He waited with bated breath for Jihoon’s response, which came in the form of him reaching a hand back for Jeonghan to hold and whispering, “I forgive you.” Chan felt his stomach begin to drop, before he continued, “You too, Channie.”

Chan, smiling, slid in next to Jeonghan on the bed and squeezed Jihoon’s unoccupied hand in silent thanks.

Downstairs, things were going only slightly better. Seungcheol and Soonyoung were, for the most part, alright and just needed a bit of coaxing and reassurance from Minghao to calm them down. The others, however, were a different story. 

While Seungkwan had gone first to Jun and Joshua, knowing they’d need someone to help them calm down, Vernon knew that the youngest babies were more scared than anything and went to comfort them first.

Despite his headache, Vernon managed to power through the sobs to help the babies onto the floor so that a proper impromptu cuddle session could begin. “Aw, babies, what’s wrong? Did the yelling scare you all?”

Seokmin and Mingyu nodded while Wonwoo whimpered out, “Woud, Dada. Wea’wy woud.”

“My poor little babies,” Vernon cooed, bringing the three babies into a tight hug.

“Kitty mad?” Wonwoo asked as his tears began to slow.

Vernon shook his head. “He’s not mad at you, little owl. You know how Shua gets super upset whenever things are too loud?” Wonwoo gave a quick nod, hair flopping into his face. “Well, Kitty is the same way. We got a bit too loud, and it was too much for him.”

Seokmin let out a whine, tears forming at the prospect of upsetting Jihoon. He wriggled away from Vernon and attempted to crawl out of the dining room. 

Minghao, thankfully, managed to scoop the baby into his arms. He gave their little sunshine a calm smile. “Hi, Minnie, where are you going?” Seokmin babbled out an adorably unintelligible response that Minghao just nodded along with. “Is that so? Well, I think you should stay here with us so Mama and Daddy can help Kitty calm down.” The little cutiepie whined again but resigned himself to his fate in Minghao’s arms.

On the other side of the breakfast table, Seungkwan was still trying to coax Jun and Joshua out of their self-made cocoons.

“Junnie, my little wiggle worm, can you tell Mama why you’re so upset?” Seungkwan asked, a soothing edge to his voice.

“Kitty mad at us,” Jun choked out, his voice barely above a whisper.

Seungkwan frowned. Jun rarely ever used his indoor voice (big or little), much less a whisper. “Why are you whispering, kitten?”

Jun squirmed around, still sobbing and still hiding his face in his arms. “Kitty mad fo’ bein’ too loud. Junnie no’ gonna be loud so ‘dat Kitty no mad.”

“Babies,” Seungkwan said, hoping to reassure Jun and Joshua, “I promise that Kitty isn’t mad at either of you. He’s not mad; he just got overwhelmed like the two of you do sometimes.”

Joshua, holding on tightly to his own arms, began, “But-”

“I promise.” Seungkwan hovered his hand over Joshua’s knee and rested it when he nodded.

“So no indoor voice?” Jun asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice. Tears still clouded the little’s eyes, but he was no longer sobbing. As far as Seungkwan was concerned, that was a step in the right direction.

Seungkwan playfully rolled his eyes before using his free hand to ruffle his wiggle worm’s hair. “Very funny, Junnie. You still have to try and use that indoor voice of yours, especially since you just showed Mama that you have one.” Jun let out a small giggle, and Seungkwan swore he heard a tiny, “Heh,” from Joshua as his little princess started to uncurl from his ball of tension.

A few more minutes passed, the littles all beginning to properly calm down before Jeonghan and Chan returned with a teary-eyed Jihoon clinging to them.

The petite caregiver let out a small sniffle, attempting to keep himself composed, as he stepped towards the table. “B-Babies…” He paused to clear his throat before continuing. “Babies, Kitty is so, so sorry for blowing up at you all like that. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right.”

“It’s not youw fault, Kitty,” Soonyoung argued, a pout on his face. “Baba says youw bwain’s like Shua’s. And we nice when Shua gets mad about noise.” He stood up and toddled over to Jihoon. “Soonie acce’t’s Kitty’s apo’gy and wanna give Kitty huggie.”

Jihoon cracked a watery smile before bringing the little in for a tight hug. “Thank you, little tiger. Kitty really needed to hear that.”

“Cheolie too!” Seungcheol added, rushing over to join the hug. 

“How is it that our littles are more tolerant than neutrals twice their age?” Chan muttered.

“Their parents raised them to be decent, and we made both of them better,” Jeonghan responded, a proud smile on his face.

Minghao cleared his throat. “I feel like there might be someone else here who owes us an apology.” Abandoning subtlety, he stared at Jeonghan and Chan.

The former blushed. “Oh, right! We… We’re sorry, mostly to Jihoon, Vernon, and Seungkwan, but also to all of you. We shouldn’t have condoned or encouraged the noise just to be petty; we were wrong.”

“Doing that not only made us bad caregivers, but bad boyfriends, too. We’re really sorry.” Chan bowed his head, only peeking up to say, “Forgive us…?”

Joshua sniffled a bit before whispering, “Promise to not do it again?”

Jeonghan gave his princess a small nod. “We promise, angel.”

“Shua forgives you,” Joshua stated, voice raspy and eyes still just slightly teary.

Chan smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you, princess.”

“Junnie fo’gives Kitty, Daddy, and Appa, too,” Jun said, his voice still a bit quieter than his usual volume.

“Ki’y!” Mingyu cheered, his volume just a touch too loud. Jihoon, Jun, and Joshua all flinched, but managed to stay (relatively) calm otherwise. 

Jeonghan wrapped a supportive arm around Jihoon’s shoulders while Seungkwan gently reassured Jun and Joshua that everything was going to be okay. After breakdowns like the ones they had experienced today, it would take a bit of time for the three to bounce back to their usual demeanors. But that was more than okay. They couldn’t turn back time to start the New Year differently, but if this was the worst thing that happened, well… In Jihoon’s mind, they weren’t doing too bad. There were certainly worse ways to begin things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M - I’m so happy that we got to write another fic together! I think the collabs are from over, though… Keep your eyes peeled for us on the holidays ;)
> 
> Dani - This was sooo much fun! Plus, it helped me get M further into the Carat life! Hope y’all enjoyed another collab from us ^_^

**Author's Note:**

> We’re on tumblr! Come find us at mamashine and fandomingchild.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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